Culinary System: Transmigrated to Game World

"Nyx," his dad said, his voice calm, too calm. "Why didn't you come back after you left? Your mom and I have been waiting for you for two years."

Kai blinked, still confused. "Waiting for me?" he asked, puzzled. "But where was I?"

His dad stood up, his voice getting tight, showing his patience was running out. "In prison," he said, each word heavy with years of pain.

Kai froze. His eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. It felt like the word "prison" hit him hard, like a punch. The time didn't make sense anymore, and now he had to live through it, with no other choice.

"In prison?" Kai repeated, trying to understand. "But I... I was in my kitchen yesterday, running away from the police, so I... I didn't get caught... what is this prison now—"

His dad's expression hardened, and he took a step forward, looking at Kai like he wasn't quite sure who he was anymore. "You've been in prison for two years, son. After the accident, after… everything. We tried to get through to you. You didn't remember us. You didn't remember yourself."

Kai's head was spinning. Accident? Prison? None of it made sense. "Okay, so, 'accident.' I remember being in the kitchen, but apparently, that was a crime scene, and now I'm in prison? Great. I was just out here living my life and didn't realize I had a huge gap in my memory."

"Wait, what accident?" Kai asked, raising an eyebrow. "What happened two years ago? Because it looks like I missed big event of the decade."

His dad took a deep breath, his face tightening with something close to grief. "It's all a blur now, isn't it? After the crash, you were… different. You lost a lot, Nyx. We didn't know if you were ever going to come back to us, if you would remember who you were."

A crash. He tried to picture it, but all he saw was darkness. It was like there was a huge hole in his memory, a missing chapter. The more he tried to fill it, the more he was just… lost.

"So, I've been in prison," Kai said slowly, as if trying to understand the words. "But I don't remember... anything. My life... why would I be in prison?" He let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, right. Because, apparently, I'm really good at making bad choices."

His dad's look softened, though there was still sadness in his eyes. "But you know what, Nyx? It's all over now. It's behind you."

Kai stared at the floor, his throat tight. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come, like they were stuck behind a wall of confusion. How could he explain what had happened? How could he explain that the world he knew had changed, and now he was just... lost, not knowing how to explain it to anyone else?

"Nyx you're here...."

Kai's heart raced as he turned toward the voice. His mother stood in the doorway, bathed in the flickering lantern light. She looked just like the mother he remembered—gentle eyes, warm smile—but something about her presence felt strange.

"Mom?" Kai whispered, barely able to speak.

She stepped forward, her movements graceful, yet strangely precise, like she was following a rehearsed routine. "We've been waiting, Nyx. Waiting so long for you to come back to us."

Kai stepped back, his hand still gripping the edge of the table with the figurine on it. "Stop calling me that. I'm not Nyx! I'm Kai!"

For a moment, his mother's smile wavered, and her eyes flickered with something hard to read. "Kai Mercer," she said softly, but her voice held a sad undertone. "I know, Nyx." She was clearly lying. "And you...stop pressuring my son now, he just came home... Come on, Nyx, I made your favorite dish—Blood Rice Porridge with Moonvine."

Kai walked around to the back of the house, a smile forming on his lips when he saw his mother, but it quickly faded when his eyes landed on the dishes. His stomach twisted, and a wave of nausea began to rise.

Blood Rice Porridge. With Moonvine. The combination he'd never been able to bring himself to try.

His smile turned into a grimace, and he blinked slowly, as if hoping the scene would change. "Just this miracle was left to happen in my life," he thought bitterly. "What's next? A guts and entrails surprise? With some dragon's breath for flavor."

He took a cautious step closer, trying to hide the horror on his face. "Mom, I really appreciate the effort... but you know, there's a limit to how much I can love you and still keep my stomach intact."

His mother beamed at him, completely unaware of the turmoil inside him. "You used to love it, Nyx," she said, setting the dishes down with a proud smile. "It's a family recipe!"

Kai forced a smile, his stomach still protesting. "Yeah, I used to love it... right before I realized I wasn't a fan of eating something that could probably be classified as a biohazard." His mother made him sit in the nearest chair, almost forcefully, and placed the bowl in front of him. Kai stared at it, his expression twisting into a mix of horror and disbelief.

The dark red liquid inside the bowl swirled thickly, a glossy, iridescent sheen covering its surface like it was hiding some terrible secret. The so-called "Blood Rice Porridge" looked... alive—like it might jump out of the bowl at any moment and attack him.

It was pulsating. Pulsating. He blinked, eyes wide. Had it just moved? Was it breathing?

Thin, vine-like tendrils poked out from the surface, coiling and uncoiling slowly, as if searching for something—or someone—to latch onto. It was like watching a horror movie where the food itself was the villain. The faint glow from the lantern cast eerie shadows over it, making the whole thing look like some cursed relic.

Kai took an involuntary step back, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he muttered, "Oh, lovely. It's alive. That's exactly what I needed tonight—an organic, sentient porridge to keep me company."

He wiped a hand across his mouth, trying to keep his composure. "Mom, I thought you said you were making dinner, not... a science experiment."

His mother, unfazed and smiling like this was the greatest gift she could give him, set the bowl down in front of him with a proud flourish. "Eat, Nyx, you've always loved it."

Kai's eyes flicked between the bowl and his mother. "Yeah mom, I used to love it... until I realized it was less 'comfort food' and more 'soup of the damned.'"

He sighed dramatically, taking a step away from the table, as if the bowl might leap out and latch onto him at any second. "Well, guess I'm about to find out what happens when you eat something that's more 'mutant creature' than 'meal.'"

Kai's gaze lingered on the bowl of Blood Rice Porridge for a second longer, as if it might suddenly turn into something edible. His stomach twisted in protest, but he forced himself to take a spoonful. The texture was... strange. The taste? Worse. He quickly set the spoon down and pushed the bowl away, his face contorting into a mixture of disgust and disbelief.

"Yeah, I'm definitely gonna be dreaming about that later," he muttered to himself, slumping back into his chair. He glanced at his mom, who was beaming like she'd just made a five-course meal.

"Thanks, Mom," he said dryly. "I'll let you know if I don't wake up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache that could rival a poison attack."

After an awkward silence, his mom gave him a look that could only be described as... patient. She must've been used to this by now.

Eventually, his parents went off to bed, leaving him alone in the quiet house. Kai stood up from the table, rubbing his eyes as he made his way to his room. It was eerily silent, almost too quiet, and the faint light from the moon seeping through the windows gave the house a strange, otherworldly feel.

He stopped in the doorway of his room, looking around. The only real difference between day and night in this strange world seemed to be the moon. By day, it was distant, red, and barely noticeable. But at night? It bled light—shining bright red enough to almost blind you, as if it were trying to burn away some unseen wound.

Kai shook his head, muttering under his breath, "What kind of world is this anyway? What do they do to the moon to make it look like it's in constant pain?"

He scanned his room, trying to ignore the weirdness of everything. The walls were lined with bookshelves, old furniture, and dust that had long since settled on everything. Nothing in this room felt familiar, yet everything seemed to fit—like a life he was supposed to recognize but couldn't.

As his eyes wandered around, they landed on something on the nightstand: an old, worn photo album. It had a soft leather cover, and the edges were frayed, evidence of years of use. With a sigh, Kai walked over and picked it up. He flipped it open slowly, the pages creaking under his touch, revealing pictures of a family he didn't remember.

There were photos of him as a child, smiling with his parents—pictures that looked almost too perfect. He ran his fingers over the images, his mind struggling to connect with the boy in the pictures. The face staring back at him was his, but it felt so distant, like a stranger wearing his skin.

He flipped to the next page, where a picture of his mother and father holding him as a toddler appeared. They looked so full of life, so happy.

"Well, this is... quaint," Kai muttered. "Nice to know I was once capable of looking normal before my world got turned upside down by... whatever this is."

He let out a breath, staring at the faces in the photos for a moment longer before closing the album with a snap. "Guess I'm supposed to remember all this... but how am I supposed to remember a life that's just... gone?"

With a resigned sigh, he tossed the album onto his bed and sat down, rubbing his temples. The moonlight streamed in, casting long, eerie red shadows across the room. He tried to clear his mind, but the images of the food, his parents' faces, and the overwhelming sense of confusion made his thoughts spiral.

Eventually, exhaustion settled in, and his body gave up the fight. He crawled into bed, the weight of everything pressing on his chest like a heavy stone. The bed felt too soft, like it was swallowing him whole. His eyes fluttered shut as the moonlight bled through the window, painting his room in strange, unsettling hues.

As his mind began to drift, he couldn't help but think one last thing before sleep claimed him.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and realize this whole thing was just some weird nightmare. But knowing my luck, I'll probably be stuck with this weird version of reality forever."